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Experimenting with PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Photosynthesis ensures that plants can use sunlight to grow. Most plants appear to do this very inefficiently. Scientists are experimenting with test plants, which grow faster with increased photosynthesis than the unchanged plants. They are even growing purple and yellow chloroplasts, which can also absorb energy from infrared light. Then the plant can continue to grow day and night.
More efficient plants have many environmental benefits, such as requiring less space for the same amount of food production, but also more CO2 capture, more carbon storage in the soil, and other fun extras. Whether it will really work is being investigated, scientists have their hands full with it. |
Photo used under Creative Commons from Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
